Posted by pullmarine on October 14, 2000, at 18:54:28
In reply to Re: For your information, posted by SLS on October 12, 2000, at 10:41:38
> Dear John,
>
Seriously, I didn't spend any more than an hour at this. I had thought to quote and reference all the URLs describing the cognitive and perceptual distortions produced by depression, but there were too many. There would be no use to do so anyway, as a majority of opinion doesn't guarantee its validity. INDEED!!! Perhaps I only found what I was looking for so as to support my current beliefs.(A common bias among scientists as well.)
>
> I don't have very much more than an undergraduate education regarding psychology and sociology. I have not delved into the realm of experimental psychology. However, I imagine I could get through some of the material you have offered to point me in the direction of. Start with "they say You're crazy" by Caplan
>
> I find the theme common to the two examples above to be a sort of paradox. If "normal" people are less accurate than depressives at perceiving or conceptualizing various aspects of "reality", it is because, to the normal individual, everything seems better than it really is, and that they experience unjustified optimism. It is precisely this "inaccuracy" that may leave the "normal" less vulnerable to becoming depressed in the first place. WELL SAID< AND UNFORYNATLY< TOO TRUE!!!
If this is the case, then this is one of the few times I would rather be wrong about things.
> > >Emmerson choose between peaco or mind and thruth, choose what you will, you can never have both!!!>
> It seems to me that many people suffering from chronic depression look to find some redeeming value to their suffering. This is probably a defense mechanism.< < < I would strongly agree with this statement!!!
>
> I still can't help feeling that the notion of depression being a vehicle for more accurate perceptions of the world is a bunch of crap.
>
If this perception is helpful to you, then by all means, don't change this frame of thought under any cercumstances. J. Lenneon: 'whatever gets you thru the night is allright!.>
>
> > PS, did you know that a grief reaction is clinicly indistinguishable from 'depression'
>
> So?Why is grief not considereca mental illness. why don't we medicate and sedate people who are grieving the loss of a significant other, and label them as sick, with distorted perception and cognition?
JOHN
poster:pullmarine
thread:42903
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001012/msgs/46360.html